1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hole gauging tool and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a hole engagement member which may be slidably carried by a straight edge and is lockable with respect to said straight edge.
2. History of the Prior Art
In the construction industry, and particularly in the construction of steel frame structures, buildings and the like, the I-beams, channel beams and other structural members are pre-designed and fabricated for installation at the building site. These frame members are typically assembled with the use of bolts or rivets which are passed through pre-drilled holes in the frame member itself or by holes provided in flanges which are pre-welded to these structural iron members.
For example, when I-beams are used in the construction of the framework for buildings, the I-beams may be mounted in end-to-end relationship or attached to cross I-beam members by first cutting the I-beams to the desired length and shape and then by mounting attachment flanges at the ends of the I-beam. These attachment flanges must be positioned accurately on the I-beam prior to being welded thereto.
It is necessary that the hole patterns provided in the flange members be rather accurately located with respect to the I-beam members so that when the beam is hoisted into place, the hole patterns will match up so that bolts, rivets or the like can be used for attaching the pieces together. Heretofore, these flanges were positioned at the ends of the I-beams by the use of multiple measurement techniques to make sure that the holes are properly positioned with respect to the end of the I-beam. Later, usually before the beam is moved to the building site, inspectors have to re-measure the exact location of the holes and the flange members in order to insure a proper fit when the beam is hoisted into place.
If the hole is in the wrong place, the hole must usually be filled using welding techniques and then redrilled properly. On the other hand, if the flange is out of position, it must be cut loose from the I-beam and rewelded in its proper location.
The measurement in initially locating the flanges at the end of the I-beam and the subsequent measurements due to inspection of the hole patterns are extremely time consuming and represent a major cost of labor in producing materials for these building structures.
Further, it is often necessary to weld flange members at various angles on the I-beam in order to provide joints for the irregular shaped building structures. These activities are again very time consuming from the point of making measurements for each flange member and each hole drilled in the flange member or in the I-beam itself.
Further, typically for both operations hereinbefore mentioned there are several beams with attachment flanges having identical hole patterns but again, often there are not enough of them to justify the manufacture of a jig fixture for each hole pattern. Hence, present day operations are done manually simply with the use of various standard squares and measurement rules which often results in the user failing to duplicate the necessary hole patterns on various identically formed structural members.